Brain-computer interface. Artwork showing a paralysed man using his thoughts to play a computer game. This setup is similar to that used by Matthew Nagle, who was tetraplegic (paralysed from the neck down) due to being stabbed. A chip was embedded in his brain that connected to a computer. The computer was then programmed to recognise Nagle's thought patterns and associate them with movements. Nagle could control a computer cursor, using it to press buttons to control his TV, check his emails and even open and close a prosthetic hand. Nagle was one of the first to use a brain-computer interface to restore some of the functionality lost by his paralysis.